WeWork has announced that lauded architect Bjarke Ingels, founder of Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), will assume the role of chief architect for the coworking/co-living company. Ingels will remain at the helm of his firm, while also assisting the company in perfecting its design language for buildings, campuses, and neighborhoods.
“Bjarke caught my attention because he’s changing the way we think about architecture. His designs inspire as much as they surprise,” says WeWork cofounder and CEO Adam Neumann. “When we started WeWork eight years ago, we knew the world didn’t need another office building, it needed spaces where people could collaborate on projects, connect and create together, and potentially change the world. As WeWork’s Chief Architect, Bjarke Ingels will help us reimagine and reshape the future of our spaces, our company, and ultimately our cities.”
“WeWork was founded at the exact same time as when I arrived in New York. In that short amount of time—the blink of an eye at the time scale of architecture—they have accomplished incredible things and they are committed to continuing their trajectory to places we can only imagine,” Ingels adds. “WeWork’s commitment to community and culturally-driven development is perfectly aligned with our active, social, and environmental agendas. As WeWork takes on larger and more holistic urban and architectural challenges, I am very excited to contribute with my insights and ideas to extend their community-oriented vision to ground-up buildings and urban neighborhoods. BIG and I are incredibly thrilled to take an active role in WeWork’s evolution as a company and a design culture.”